


this shadow weighs a ton

by KiriJones



Series: Clocks [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Extremis Pepper Potts, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Post Avengers Infinity War, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, what if you had the power to change time?, would you take it or let fate continue down its chosen path?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2019-12-18 17:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18254105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiriJones/pseuds/KiriJones
Summary: Morgan Stark has always struggled. Born into a world decimated by a Titan she barely remembers her father. Tony Stark returned to Earth when she was three only to leave seven months later with the remaining Avengers. He never came back.Raised by a grieving mother Morgan has always been closet to her godfather, the boy who should have been her brother, robots built by her dead father, a cranky AI, and her mother's eccentric survivalist uncle.Now nineteen Morgan suffers a devastating loss that threatens to push her over the edge. But she discovers something that could change it all. The question is does a girl with her mother's hair, grandmother's eyes, and father's will have the strength to do what needs to be done in order to give the universe a fighting chance?





	1. Chapter 1

Morgan Stark barely remembers her father. She remembers the smell of motor oil and call used hands. His weary smile. And sad eyes that were almost empty at times when he looked at her. Eyes that she would later realize had seen so much death. She thinks that he loved her. He was always gentle with her. But he barely spoke to her. He barely spoke to anyone. He had nightmares and when he did he always screamed about someone named Peter. Morgan's mother would always run to comfort him during those night. Tony Stark was only in her life for seven months before he left. And he never came back. None of the Avengers ever did. 

Uncle Jim always loved her. Morgan never doubted that. He and Harley raised her almost more than her mother did. Morgan loved her mother more than anything. But it always seemed liked there was never enough room in her heart for Morgan and the memory of Tony Stark. In the world after the Snap and the Decimation it was dangerous to be a Stark.

Stark Industries survived and soon anyone connected with the Avengers came to the Tower. The world outside was not kind to them. Morgan grew up surrounded by people who were tainted by the past. They had given up on the world and continued living because of the memories of those they had lost. But Morgan was a child and did not know any of this. 

She grew up surrounded by people who were determined to protect her. Jane Foster with her love of wormholes and the stars. Helen Cho with her medicine. Uncle Jim who retired from the army when Morgan was four. Harley who grew up to be something none of them saw coming. Harley who was as fierce as Tony and as calm and Pepper and as charming as uncle Jim on his worst day. 

No one ever talks about their marks. About the soul mates that they lost. The grey marks that adorn their bodies. Some are hidden and others are clearly visible. Mother and uncle Jim lost Tony. Aunt Jane lost Thor. Harley never had one. And Morgan's? She was born with a grey mark on her left arm. She had lost her soulmate before she was ever born. But this is the least of the worries of Morgan Elena Stark. 

When Pepper Potts went into labor it was a hard birth. Almost thirty hours before A c-section was performed. She began to hemorrhage. But just as her heart stopped beating her veins began to glow and she awoke with golden eyes. The Extemis was never really gone. Just asleep waiting to awaken. And so Pepper Potts has another secret to keep. 

They tested Morgan and none could find any trace of it in her system. It was decided she was spared from the curse of Extremis. That was until she was six. A lab experiment gone wrong sent her crashing down through two stories and killed three others. Harley was the one who found her. 

Her back broken and her left leg twisted wrong. She had been crying and screaming with pain and fear. Morgan doesn't remember much of that day. She remembers falling and then the impact. She remembers the cold. And then she remembers the heat. The heat that warmed her veins and crept into her bones. It mended her spine and leg. It left her with no trace of the trauma inflicted upon her. Within a day she was running when she should be paralyzed or even dead. 

Extremis had awaken within her. And Morgan was an emotional child. After that day she struggled to control the emotions that triggered her abilities. Morgan never wanted to be different. She wanted friends other than robots and her family. But it was deemed too dangerous. So Morgan Stark grew up with books and dreaming of a father who did not leave her behind. But eventually those dreams died and Morgan grew to resent the man who left her behind with nary a glance. She grew up resenting Peter Parker. The boy who her father mourned and loved more than her. She gave up trying to be the best daughter she could be and instead began resenting her mother. A woman who gave more thought to a ghost intend of her daughter. 

Morgan Elena Stark was born seven months after the world ended. But when she was nineteen her own world would come crashing down.


	2. Chapter 2

The first time Tony Stark ever sees his daughter the first thing he feels is dread. He looks at the little creature with Pepper's hair and his mother's eyes. She is a small thing who is clutching Harley's hand and hiding half way behind Rhodey's leg. He is clutching Pepper is his arms. He has spent almost four years fighting to get back to Earth with Nebula as his only company. He has fought through war zones and been held captive. He still sees Peter crumbling before his very eyes. And now he is a little girl looking up at him with love and awe in her eyes. Trust and questions. And all he feels is dread. Dread that he will let her down. Dread that this is another child he can't protect. But under all that he does loves this girl.

he loves her curiosity. He loves her smiles and the wonder in her eyes. She sits with him in the work shop as he invents and prepares for the day he leaves again. She colors and tries to paint the robots. She calls him Daddy and is warms his heart and makes him ache. Peter should be here with them. Tony is broken and he knows he can't do this. So he bonds with Morgan but keeps her at arms length. And he feels the anger from Harley and the disappointment from Rhodey. 

Harley is another surprise. The kid is almost seventeen now and he is showing even greater potential than Tony ever thought he had. The boy has a knack for engineering and machinery. He has a photographic memory and a fire inside him. The boy has think circles around Tony as he mutters and comes up with solutions Bruce is impressed by. The boy devours books on physics and chemistry and helps Tony rebuild the shade ship. He helps him design suits and blows Tony away when he Bruce reveals he helped stabilize the Extremis virus in Pepper after his daughters birth. Peter is once again the specter haunting him. Peter should be with Harley in the lab. 

Pepper is his solace. Her Words on his spine. His words are one her collarbone. Every night he buries himself in her and cries in her arms. She is holding him together. And when the time comes to fly away with the other Avengers to try and reverse what Thanos has done Tony is filled with dread once more. He insists Rhodey stays behind. He kisses Pepper and hugs his best friend who promises he will look after his family. Harley makes him promise he won't die. And Morgan cries and hugs him and begs him not to leave. Tony is hugging her and looks at her left arm. His daughter was born with grey Words. Her Soulmate dead before she was born. 

The billions dead haunt Tony. They haunt him so much he realizes too late he never told his daughter he loved her. And when Thanos crushes the Avengers into the dust and destroys the last hope of the universe Tony wishes he could have been better. He wishes he could have saved Peter. Married Pepper. Mentored Harley to see the man he would have become. Grown old with Rhodey. Been the father Morgan deserved. Tony has so many regrets. But death seems comforting. At least he won't be alone now. He will be along now with all those he failed. He just hopes those left behind won't suffer like he did. He hopes his daughter never has to know that pain. He hopes she has grow up in some kind of peace. 


End file.
